Whitepaper Author

Reflective practice in a team new to agile

In examining the new use of agile in projects run by a major cement manufacturer, Ahmad Alshehri discovered how learning through reflection led to some positive outcomes.

Operation Performance Improvement: a project on reflection

In studying the project environment at a major rail (brake system) manufacturer, Sepideh Habibipour found out how higher project performance was achieved through a specific focus on improvement.

Leveraging tacit knowledge for projects

Tacit knowledge in the workplace entails the transfer and communication of skills and competencies that are hard to quantify, a challenge in projects as they allow less time for this type of knowledge transfer, according to Brenton Conway.

How a wind power construction company improves project performance

Too much academic research is concentrated on corporate performance compared with a lack of research on the project side. Yi Gao examines a wind power construction company for answers.

Learning Through Reflective Practice—Ahmad Alshehri

Learning Through Reflective Practice While Deploying a Load Management System In a Famous Cement Industry
This paper explains the topics of ‘reflective practice and ‘learning through reflection’ in a practical project environment at one of Australia’s major Cement manufacturing companies (referred as ‘X-Cement Ltd’ in this paper). The project was to develop and deploy a comprehensive new load management system including the equipment and software logic automation in X-Cement Ltd using Agile Methodology and Approach of Project Management.

Implementing Agile methodology within X-Cement Ltd involved:
—Analysis of the project management approach already implemented at the X-Cement Ltd.
—Responsibilities assignment to Staff and vendors teams to develop a project management system based on Agile Methodology which met the specific future needs of X-Cement Ltd.
—Training of staff on Agile and operation of the load management system within the Power House department of The X-Cement Ltd.
—The implementation of new logic metrics and measures to validate the success of, the new methodology.

The project explains reflective practice in the form of brainstorming sessions and fortnightly meetings referred here as “Project review meetings” arranged by the project team to discuss the status of the project success so far or time elapsed by a project iteration, what could be improved, and how to achieve more success in the future/ next project objective. These meetings purely represent Social learning as well as Experiential learning.

The project report explains the benefits achieved by X-Cement Ltd through reflection practice as:
—Increased collaboration and trust among staff and vendor project teams
—Increased work performance due to effective reflection
—No loop holes left unattended during the project
—Increased effective and detailed briefing on the project

Author: Ahmad Alshehri
Review status: Postgraduate assignment (University of Technology Sydney)

Knowledge Sharing in a Project Based Environment—Muhammad Haroon Mukhtar

The Importance of Knowledge Sharing in a Project Based Environment as a Means for Performance Improvement – Case Study: HT’s 3G Trial Network Project in Country P
This paper highlights the limitations imposed by an organization’s organizational structure on knowledge sharing among individuals and teams working on similar roles but in different projects that are isolated from each other. It takes as an example a small scale project of novel nature that a specific team was required to deliver having little to no technical expertise of the technology the project was meant to deliver. Some of the key issues that affected the project are discussed in detail along with the presentation of arguments how knowledge sharing between this projects’ team and another project team that had delivered a similar project could have benefitted the project in achieving an improved outcome.

The ever present pressure of delivering the project at the earliest also acts as a barrier to providing such teams a common platform to share relevant knowledge and experiences to enhance their skills and abilities and be better prepared for the unforeseen situations and obstacles. Moreover, quite often developing and maintaining knowledge gained from existing projects is overshadowed by the haste of delivering new projects.

This paper aims at emphasizing the opportunities that are missed due to such barriers, opportunities that promise learning and improvement for individuals, teams and organizations through knowledge sharing.

Author: Muhammad Haroon Mukhtar
Review status: Postgraduate assignment (University of Technology Sydney)

Project Performance Improvement—Denise O’Sullivan

Project Performance Improvement
This paper discusses the benefit of using reflection and improvement techniques in a software development and organisational change project. While the project was reasonably mature in the change management and implementation streams the paper argues that reflection could be embedded in a more structured fashion and that there is always room for improvement when teams are working together in this more virtual and complex world. The dark side of the organisation is explored and the conclusion is that there is plenty more work to be done on this human aspect of project management.

The paper concludes that the company where the new system was being implemented could have reduced costs if three areas of improvement were given more focus, employee understanding of the change, developer understanding of the user experience and more detailed planning of the support required during the implementation.

Author: Denise O’Sullivan
Review status: Postgraduate assignment (University of Technology Sydney)

Project Performance Improvements—Sepideh Habibipour

Project Performance Improvements
This reflective report explores the topics of ‘reflection’ and ‘learning through reflection’ within the context of the project environment within one of the major worldwide rail (brake system) manufacturer companies in Australia (hereby referred to as ‘The Rail Company’). Due to company development and changes in business strategy, implementing new processes, new modules in SAP and some minor changes in hierarchy organization structure were required. Therefore executive management has decided to define a project named ‘Operation Performance Improvement’ (hereby referred to as just ‘The Project’) to manage the requirements successfully. The project manager, to achieve continuous performance improvement and benefits in the project and organization level, has picked and implemented the reflective practice approach similar to Theory-in-practice (Winter et al, 2006) and SECI model(kujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, 2000). These approach and model have been implemented through the meetings named‘ Service Center improvement’ (hereby referred to as just ‘The weekly meeting’). The highlighted benefits that have been achieved through this project were increasing efficiencies in different department, increasing team member’s competencies and changing team members from trainers to reflective practitioner, increasing the level of trust through deferent departments by sharing knowledge and experiences in not judgmental environment and at the end adding knowledge Asset to the organization by creating processes of dynamic converting knowledge (from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge). At the end this paper will focus on specified lessons learnt that have been achieved through this project and the works which team members and project manager will do differently in future projects.

Author: Sepideh Habibipour
Review status: Postgraduate assignment (University of Technology Sydney)